


Birds (and Raccoons and Foxes) of a Feather

by VenusTheMarvelTurtle



Category: Over the Hedge (2006), Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Amused Nick, Annoyed Judy, Crossover, De-Aged Characters, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, F/M, Gen, Humor, Light-Hearted, Pissy Verne, Ridiculous RJ, Silly, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, mob
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 05:58:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6458626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenusTheMarvelTurtle/pseuds/VenusTheMarvelTurtle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Finnick calls Nick and tells him that one of their old buddies "from the block" was in town, Judy has no clue of the headache she's got inbound. Nick's gone the path of the straight and narrow, but SOMEONE had to replace the wily fox as Zootopia's premiere scam artist. Luckily, the kids are adorable.</p><p>(Or, Nick's friend RJ visits, Judy wears a disguise, Hammy ate all the cookies, Nick is laughing, and they all have to run from the police. Oh, and there's a homicidal bear, so there's that.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dinner Date Dashed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: So my sister was watching Over the Hedge the other day and Zootopia was downloading on the computer. I'm in love with Nick's character from the stories I've read, and when I saw RJ, I thought, 'wow, they're almost the same person. They'd probably be best freaking friends'. And DING! Out pops this story idea. Comments would be great!)

Finnick's call comes when Judy is in the shower of her and Nick's shared downtown Zootopia apartment, scrubbing the last of a hard days police work out of her fur with the aid of the Blueberry Banana Bonanza body wash that Clawhauser swore by. The aroma is a little overpowering for her sensitive nose, but Nick's blueberry obsession borders on the frightening and near clinically diagnosable. His sense of smell is even better than hers, and he loves it, so that's all that matters in the end.

And anyway, the reaction it got out of him that first night she brought it home still brings a hard blush to her cheeks- well worth the half hour commute to the Rainforest District, and enduring the Macaw Bodega's faint yet lingering stink of ammonia and compost.

By the time she's done, dry, and slightly staticky, padding out of the steamy bathroom with a towel coiled under her arms and water dripping from her eyelashes, Nick is just finishing up a phone call, hastily pulling on a shirt- NOT the shirt he'd laid out for dinner with her visiting older sister. It's his old green button down and tie combo that he hasn't worn since his last day as a street hustler. After graduating the academy and becoming a public figure, Nick's been trying to distance himself from that image a bit.

But he's still the same sly, snide, sharp witted mammal she fell head over heels for, and she honestly wouldn't have him any other way, shirt or no shirt. (But preferably no shirt, if she was being totally honest). 

"Nick," Judy chirps, eyeing him sideways. He glances up, and he's got that LOOK on his face, the little guilty half smile and scrunched up eyes that says _'I'm about to do something you won't like, but you'll forgive me eventually because you love me, cottontail, and I'm not above taking advantage of it'._

"Hey, Carrots. You smell like a fluffy tornado of tastiness." he says, quickly slipping his phone into his pocket. 

"Nick, that's not the right-"

"Mm, mm, mm." he whistles. "Da-yum, has your fur always been that shiny? You're gonna blind me babe, mark my words, but I love it."

He's talking fast, laying it on thick, but he's not _that_ charming and Judy's not _that_ easily distracted. (She hopes).

"Thank you, but that shirt isn't-"

"A luckier fox there never has been, strike me down if I'm lying-"

"Nick." Judy huffs, crossing her arms over her covered chest. "Who was that?" she asks. Not out of paranoia- not for a minute does she think he's messing around. She trusts him with her life, her heart, and everything in between, and she knows he'd rather eat a crop full of night howler than betray that. But there's a glint in his eyes that she pauses at.

He grins, knowing the game is up. "Finnick," he admits, and she rolls her own. Nick is a cop now, and Finnick is...not. True, his scams are mostly harmless, teeny tiny in the grand scheme of the city, but Nick's publicity campaign in the city as an ex-con-fox-police officer was on shaky ground as it was, not that he'd ever wanted one in the first place.

"Nick, I know he's a friend, but-"

"It's not like that, Jude." Nick cuts her off, and  _fluff,_  that gets annoying, the way he always seems to know her thoughts right before they become words. That might have been the only downside to having someone that knew her better than she knew herself. True, she did the same to him all the time, so maybe she was being hypocritical.

"He only called to tell me one of our old buddies is in town," Nick continues, knotting his tie around his neck.

Judy pulls the towel from around her body and turns her back to pick up the dress she'd picked out for that evening's events, a float-y, flimsy lavender confection that both matches her eyes and combats the late summer heat of the city. She feels Nick's gaze wander up and down her naked back, and gives a proud little wiggle for his benefit while she recovers her underwear, flushing pink at the base of her ears. She'd never been vain, but Nick had a way of making her feel irresistible with just a glance.

"Aaand?" she leads, slipping the dress over her head and smoothing down the front. She thinks she knows what's coming, and she's not happy about it.

When she turns back around, Nick is wincing. "Not that I'm not frothing at the mouth to be fileted and fricasseed by your big sister, and God knows any evening with you is one well spent, but how would you feel about me maybe taking a rain check?"

Yep, there it was. He was trying to weasel out of it, just hours after making the plans in the first place. She wants to be more upset, but it was just so NICK.

"Niii- _iiick_ ," Judy whines, puckering out her lips and giving him a full on Bunnyburrow pout, Hopps family style, patented and perfected and passed down through the generations. "This is important. You promised me you wouldn't skip out."

Nick grimaced. "I know, Carrots, I know. But this guy's a drifter, worse than I was. Worse than FINNICK."

"I doubt anyone could be worse than him." Judy muttered. Finnick was mostly in the wind since Nick left the streets, popping up here and there.

"That's RJ," Nick informs her. "Odds are good he won't even still be here tomorrow. I haven't seen him in years. He was one of the only real friends I had, before..." He waves a loose paw, indicating everything they'd gone through, then snorts and levels a cocked eyebrow at her. "Besides, it's not like Abigail is gonna be heartbroken without me there."

"That's not...totally true." Judy says slowly, lying through her teeth and they both knew it. He wasn't wrong- Abby was constantly dropping hints about what some of the other, less tolerant families back home thought of her dating Nick, and in their private texts, she often said that it was time for Judy to start "thinking straight" and get over her "infatuation" with predators. The last time she visited, she'd waxed on and on about how _prosperous_ and _invaluable_ Brandy Parse's business was growing to Bunnyburrow, and oh, what do you know, he sold the fox repellent that Carolina Jumpton simply _swore_ had saved the life of her child.

Judy had been pissed. But while Nick's calm, concerned comment about how Abigail's posture spoke to the possibility of certain long, twiggy thinks crammed into unmentionable places and how she really should see a doctor about it certainly hadn't endeared him to her sister, it did have the plus side of Judy discovering just how far and forcefully water could exit her nostrils. Her little brothers would have been proud of the distance she managed. She was pretty sure she'd broken a world record somewhere.

"She'll come around eventually." she says finally. On the thirtieth of _yeah, right_  and  _never ever,_ maybe.

Nick just STARES blankly at her. "Remember last year, when we visited your family? Your dad mentioned marriage when he was giving me the third degree, and she overheard. I thought she was going to pass out and drown in her potato salad." he grouses dryly. "And wouldn't that have been a damper on the reunion."

Judy exhales hard in surrender. She can't argue with that point. She still doesn't like it. It's only halfway about Abby. She doesn't want to think that she's so boring, he'd rather run off with a friend than eat dinner with her. Deep down she knows it's ridiculous, but pride and her own nature keep her from asking him. "It doesn't matter if she doesn't want you there." Judy grumbles. " _I_ want you there."

Nick draws her into a warm, firm hug, resting his chin on top of her head and sighing theatrically. "I know. My presence is too amazing, the urge to bask in it 24/7 is too strong for mortal bunnies to resist." Judy can't punch him from her position, so she knees him in the thigh, and he grunts, chortling.

"Dumb fox." In the end, she know she won't deny him this. She'd never have the heart. Before the academy, friends were few and far between for Nick, particularly genuine ones. She buries her head in his chest. "Go ahead..."

"Sharp, spunky bunny." His teeth glint as he smiles, soft and brief and sweet, only for her. "Just this one time, Carrots. Scout's honour. Tomorrow we'll paint the town orange, all for you." He drops a kiss between her ears and one on her nose, grinning wickedly. "Say hi to Abby from me, and ask her if we can get a share of some of those diamonds they're no doubt mining out of her a-"

"Nicholas Wilde!"

She goes to knee him again, but just like that he's gone in a flash of rusty russet fur.

"I'm not bringing you anything home!" she yells petulantly after him. She hears his bark of laughter even though he's halfway down the stairs.

"Yes, you will! Sushi Sampler on ice, _por favor!_ "

Shaking her head and smiling despite herself, Judy picks up her phone and starts typing a message to her sister, telling her to leave the maximum strength fox repellent at home to save room for the wetnaps in her purse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand this chapter ended up being purely Nick/Judy fluff. XD I couldn't help it, they're adorable fuzzy muffins and they're my newest OTP. Others come in next, I swear LOLZ.


	2. The Part Where it Becomes a Crossover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter RJ!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (The hedge animals have all been de aged a little to give RJ the provider/protector role. Hammy is five, Stella is ten, the triplets are orphans and seven years old. Heather and Ozzie are brother and sister and both 14. Verne is seventeen.)

Dinner is noticeably duller without Nick there, but Judy slogs through it with the slow determination one usually saves for trudging through a swamp or mucking out a stable, one breath and moment at a time. She loves her sister, but she loves Nick too, and every second she's with Abby she realizes just how different she is from the rest of her family now. Zootopia has really changed her, and she's not as freaked out about that as maybe she should be.

Abigail is ecstatic at Nick's absence, something that Judy tries to be understanding about and fails epically, mostly because her sister takes every oppurtunity to insult the fox as un-subtly as she can without being flat out rude.

"It's a crying shame Nicholas couldn't join us, Jude." Abby sniffs, picking through her carrot and raspberry vinaigrette salad (apparently, according to her, limp and flavorless compared to the vegetables back in Bunnyburrow, but Judy thought it tasted fine). "Where did you say he scampered off to again?"

"To visit with a friend that's in town." Judy repeats, for at least the eighth time, throat feeling dry as she does so. She hopes her sister doesn't ask any more questions, because that's about the extent of what she knows, and that _does_ bother her.

Just a little. Not much.

She WORRIES, alright?

She takes a drink of water before changing the subject AGAIN, and that's a mistake, because it leaves Abigail time to respond.

"Hmph. Kind of flighty, if you ask me." 

 _No one did,_ Judy thinks, biting down on her tongue. Abby's on a roll though, and she'd get steamrollered if she tried to jump in front of the Anti-Nick train now. 

"I mean, you have to keep an eye on men, Judy. That one especially. It's no secret what he used to do. We worry about you at home, you know. What if you wake up one day and it turns out you've been the butt of a huge scam?"

"Sure doesn't feel like a scam." Judy sighs, because really, what can she say to that? She wants to say 'especially between the sheets', because if there's anywhere Nick's 100 per cent genuine it's in their bed, but she doesn't think Abigail's heart could take the reminder of her nightly, fox filled (heh, heh) activities.

The rest of the night passes without much variation, until, by the end of it, she's drained and tired all over again and two words away from losing her mind. Abby pays for the meal, Judy collects her leftovers and Nick's takeout, and gratefully boards the ZTA train back home.

She gets through an entire season of Claw and Order, half a season of Miami Mice, and a quarter pint of Blue Bunnie Moose Tracks ice cream, but Nick still doesn't get home until hours after she falls asleep. 

* * *

 "You're asking for a day _off?"_ Judy yelps in the morning, staring at Nick while he pulls on his clothes- not his ZPD uniform, but his civvies once again.

He rolls his eyes at her and shrugs, infuriatingly unconcerned with her ire. "Asked," he corrects. "Clawhauser's already told Bogo, and he gave it the go ahead. RJ's staying in Zootopia longer than I thought." he says breezily. "And I've got tons of personal days saved up. I don't know why you're so shocked. You're the workaholic, not me.  Everybody can't be the Energiser Bunny all the time. A vulpine needs a break once in a while."

"We're partners," Judy huffs, unsure of what else to say. "And we just had our day off."

Nick smirks.

"Goodness, what would I do without you around to give me a firm grasp of the obvious? You're a life saver Judy Hopps, you really are."

"Don't give me that," she mumbles. They stare at each other for a while, him smiling and her frowning, until her nose suddenly hikes up three inches and she pulls out her own phone, dialing the precinct.

She has an idea.

"Aw, Carrots, are you telling on me? How very junior high-esque."

"No," Judy says, and she isn't. It rings three times before Clawhauser picks up, filling the line with his cheery voice.

_**"*Judy! Hey! Ohemgee, Nick already called, I know everything. I'm so sorry about your sister. I still don't think you should come in to work today, but I'm sure Nick's gonna take great care of her until you get off your shift.*"** _

To which Judy's only response is-

"H-huh?" She blinks at Nick, puzzled, and gets only a blank, similarly confused look of innocence in return. "Clawhauser, what on earth are you talking about? My sister-"

 _ **"*Abigail? The one that was run over by a tractor and just got released from Zootopia General? Nick said she's staying with you until she's well enough to go back to Bunnyburrow and he's taking care of her today. Gosh, Judy,*"**_ he says, words wobbling dangerously at the end like he was on the verge of tears. Knowing Clawhauser, he probably was.  _ **"*It's so sad, but don't worry. Strength is important in times like this. I'm sure she'll be just fine. I remember when my nana-*"**_

Judy's blushing redder than a tomato and glaring at Nick with all the silent anger she can muster from her two feet tall frame. She prays her fury doesn't transfer over the line when she replies, stopping Clawhauser in the midst of another Nana tale. 

"My sister's fine, Benny," she grits out through clenched teeth. "But you know what? I don't think I'm coming in after all." She watches Nick's expression change from smug to surprised with no small amount of childish satisfaction. 

"* ** _Sure thing, Judy. I'll tell Bogo. Try to have a good day, hun.*"_**

The line disconnects. Nick opens his mouth to talk, but he can't get more than her name out before she's pummeling him with all her strength.

"Jude- OW! Wait a minute- OWCH! Carrots- dammit! Ah!"

"You-enormous-JERK!" Judy doesn't consider herself a violent bunny, but Nick brings it out of her like nobody's business.

He cowers under her blows until her anger simmers down slightly, then has the nerve to stand there and pout like a child.

"I don't think I deserved that."

"You're darned right! You deserved more than that!" Judy fumes, fur on end. "You told him my sister got run over by a _tractor_?!"

"N _ooo,_ " Nick says, lowering his arms slowly when it appears her fists have stopped flying towards his face. "I simply implied that she may or may not have had a non fatal run in with some rouge farm equipment, which _might_ have contributed to a less than pleasant attitude. Any inferences made after the fact are not my fault. Besides, a guy can dream, can't he?"

Dammit, she's supposed to be angry at him, not fighting back a smile. But that's exactly what she's doing. "Just... hush." Judy sighs, turning away to hide the twitching of her lips. "Rotten fox."

"Why'd you call in?" Nick asks, crossing his arms and shifting his weight back onto his left foot. "I'm sure there's scores of young juvenile delinquents not crossing at the light and sagging their pants in front of old folks homes that are in desperate need of tickets issued by the great Judy Hopps."

"Oh, screw you." Judy snarks. "I called in because I'm coming with you."

It makes her feel better than she cares to admit to see him shocked by that statement. It's early, and she's already gotten over on him twice. She _so_ could have made it as a conman.

...woman. Rabbit. Whatever.

"I'm... not so sure about that," Nick hedges, glancing at her sideways with his paws in his pockets.

She sees an in, and she goes for it. "Why? Judy retorts, screwing up her face and lowering her lashes. "Are you ashamed of me?"

Nick's lips twist to the side the way they do when he thinks she's being dramatic. "Don't be a dumb bunny. If anything, you should be ashamed of me. But RJ's kind of an... aquired taste."

"You're an _aquired_ taste, Nicholas Wilde." Judy snorts, squinting up at him. "I like you just fine. And I want to meet this mysterious RJ."

This guy sounds really important to her boyfriend, important enough that he'd miss out on an opportunity to mess with Abigail and have her pay for his food. He's from Nick's past, something with which the fox usually has a strained relationship with, but he's making an exception in this case and she's intrigued.

"If you don't let me come, I'm calling Bogo and telling him you lied about my sister."

Seeing that she's not going to relent, and in the face of imminent dismemberment by their commanding officer, Nick exhales and nods, raising and lifting a nonchalant shoulder. "Alright, whatever. But don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

They take the ZTA to the heart of Zootopia at around four. Nick spends the entire trip on his phone- first messaging RJ, telling him that she's coming and confirming their meeting place- and then doing whatever it was he did all the freaking time, SnapCat and Tweeter and whatever the hell else. 

Judy's bouncing in her seat. She's excited and she can't help it. Meeting any friend of Nick's is bound to be interesting. All she has is a name- she doesn't even know what species this guy is, and she's itching to find out. The prospect of not being the only one Nick trusts anymore is a little... Odd. But she's always been an optimist, so she has high hopes.

They get off across the street from a quaint little family café, packed with mammals enjoying the warm Sunday afternoon. Judy starts to rush over, but Nick grabs her paw and keeps her anchored to his side. 

"Try not to arrest him if he says something stupid," Nick warns, pushing his aviators up onto his head and raising up onto his toes to search the crowd. "Sometimes his mouth runs ahead of his motor."

"Golly gee, I wonder what that's like."Judy drawls. Nick doesn't reply- his eyes brighten suddenly, and a wide smile stretches over his muzzle as he yanks her forward. "There he is."

One booth in the back holds a single occupant that looks up and grins as they draw nearer, and the first things Judy notices are the dark facial markings that form a burglar like mask in the fur around his glittering blue eyes, and the ringed pattern in his tail.

RJ is a raccoon, taller than Judy but shorter than Nick by a few hairs. He's in a blue polo and ripped stone wash jeans, making it impossible to guess at what stores he might frequent just from his clothing. It's the perfect mixture of inviting and easily forgettable.

One look at his expression and Judy can tell exactly why he used to be friends with Nick. They've got that same attitude, that aura of sardonic apathy and laid back swagger that she knows from experience means he could probably talk a Jaguar out of his spots.

He grasps paws with Nick and does some sort of handshake. "Well, well, Slick Nick. I guess the rumours are true. Oh, say it ain't so."

Nick slides into the booth and shakes his head, eyes darting dramatically over his shoulder. "It's so. And that's my stage name, or it was at least. I'd appreciate it if we kept things confidential. Wouldn't want to get mobbed."

RJ leans back and raises his hands in mock surrender. "Pardon me, sir, but I've heard you weren't in show business as of late. Ever since..." He pauses, eyes finally lighting on Judy, and his smile becomes smooth as melted butter. "Ugh, where are my manners? Mama Raccoon would roll in her grave. I'm RJ," he says, pressing his paws into his chest and tilting his head down at her. Nick wasn't lying. His words come fast and furious, slick and speedy. It would be disarming if she weren't prepared for it.

"Judy," she parrots, sticking out her own for him. His ears twitch in something like surprise, but he covers it quickly before she can ask what's wrong.

She feels him scanning her, surveying her, getting a "lay of the land", Nick calls it. She's watched him do it before, just like RJ is now, altering his aura to match whoever and whatever he's faced with and try to make the situation deceptively comfortable for everyone. 

She _knows_ that's what he's doing, but she's picked up a few things from her partner, so she can play that game just as well.

He shakes. "No last name, Miss Judy?" he asks, perfectly polite, and it almost sounds as though he could have hopped off the last train in from her home town, minus the accent.

Ooh, yes. Grade A hustler, twelve o clock. He's good though, she'll give him that. First foxes, now raccoons. Abby would have a conniption. 

"It's Hopps," she giggles, imagining her sister's purpling face. "What about you, Mr. RJ?"

"Nah, not as of yet." The waitress brings by a platter of waters and sets them down on the table. The she-goat takes in Judy's companions with slitted yellow eyes and gives her a half pitying, half frightened glower, which Judy does her best not to answer with a vicious stink face.

Nick fiddles with the wrapper on his straw and leers at his friend, ignoring the waitress as well until she harrumphs and stalks away. "Really? All this time I thought it was Bear-Bait."

Judy thinks she must be missing an inside joke (the first of many, she's sure). "Cheap shot, _Piberius_ ," RJ shoots back, snickering. He turns back to Judy, and his smile is sweet, indulgent. "So, you're the pretty bunny that cuffed Ol' Slick. Speaking of last names, when are you gonna make Miss Judy here an honest rabbit, Wilde?"

Nick chokes hard on his mouthful of water and starts to resuscitate himself, but Judy just smiles and shrugs. "Good question. Nick?"

When he's done coughing, Nick scowls at RJ. "'Cuffed' is kind of a strong word." he mutters, rubbing his throat.

Judy's determined not to be left out. "I don't think so." she says impishly. RJ barks out a laugh, delighted. "Quick _and_ gorgeous! Hold tight to your girl, Slick. I might take her home with me."

"You wouldn't last a week." Nick tells him, winking at Judy on the sly to take the sting out of the jab. "Find someone else to call you on your bullshit."

RJ rolls his eyes wistfully. "Verne already thinks that's his job." He rubs at his temple like he's getting a headache. "He's like a little old lady. Nags me like my grandmother did."

"On that note," Nick injects, propping his head on his wrist. "I was hoping Judy could meet the rascals. They'd love her, especially Hammy."

"You have kids?" Judy repeats, piqued. He looks a young to be a family man, around the same age as Nick and herself.

RJ's friendly attitude shifts a little. His eyes become guarded, and while his smile doesn't vanish, it fades slightly, cooling into wariness. "Not really." He folds his paws, and she can see him struggle to keep his tone light. She winces internally. She's struck a nerve, totally by accident. She hopes she didn't screw everything up.

"They're, ah, not mine. Just some kids I take care of, sometimes. Watch out for em', throw a little extra food their way, stuff like that." he continues, not meeting her gaze.

"Don't be so modest." Nick chides, green eyes fixed on his friend in some hidden meaning Judy can't make out. "Judy's got 275 siblings back in the boonies. She knows how it is."

RJ's smirk is patronizing with a hint of sarcasm. "I'm sure."

The conversation pauses for as long as it takes the waitress to refill their waters and take their orders. When she leaves, RJ coughs and changes the subject gracefully, regaining his smooth exterior. "So. Fox cop, huh? Must be a trip, especially in this city."

"Ah." Nick chuckles. "Yeah. Kinda had to, after the whole Belleweather clusterfuck. They sort of expected it." A giraffe at another table scoffs and glares at him for his language, but he waves her off, and she returns to her meal muttering about uncouth predator riff raff. "Besides, Officer Hopps didn't give me much choice."

"That was all your decision, Nick." Judy argues.

"Well, yeah, but you couldn't just let him think that?"

RJ's ears return to their normal tilt once the focus is away from him, and his smile looks a little more easy. "You always were a goodie goodie, Nick. It was only a matter of time. Makes sense, anyway. You would've never run another scheme with your face plastered everywhere."

"Tragic," Nick agrees. His smirk turns nostalgic. "We had some great hustles back in the day though, didn't we?"

RJ guffaws. "No doubt. Remember the 'champagne' racket? Seltzer water with two drops of yellow food coloring, and those jerks paid 200 bucks a bottle. We ate good for months."

"That's horrible!" Judy yelps, amidst their laughter.

"It was genius," Nick replies. "We told those old ninnies it was a specialty brand from Reptropolis. Heather had a real birthday party that year." Judy knows he's digging, and there it is again- a stiffening of RJ's shoulders, ears angling back, tongue poking out to lick nervously at his lips.

"Mmhm."

Their waitress, for all she appears to act like a specieist witch, has impeccable timing. Their food arrives at that moment- vegetarian omelette for Judy, clam chowder for Nick, and mushroom pasta for RJ. They continue to talk and reminisce and laugh while they eat, sharing embarrassing stories and anecdotes, but Judy notices that the raccoon doesn't volunteer anything else about his past. He also doesn't touch his meal, bagging up the whole thing at the end.

They stand up after the check is paid and RJ and Nick embrace one last time, chatting on the way out of the restaurant and outside. 

"How long are you staying this time around?" Judy asks casually, swinging her takeout by her side as she walks. "Nick said you were kind of a... free spirit."

Nick groans at her phrasing, and she blushes, but RJ makes a noncommittal noise and chews on his bottom lip. "Dunno. A week, maybe. Nothing permanent. I'm supposed to hook up with Finnick tomorrow."

"Where are you staying?" she queries, and gets that strange expression in return.

"Ya know. Around." 

"You could-"

There's suddenly a very hard pressure on her ankle, cutting her off. Judy frowns, but Nick nudges her foot more subtly and splits his face into an enormous yawn, watching the sun sink down beneath the skyline. "Well, we'll get going. We both have an early shift in the morning, gotta get there bright eyed and bushy tailed, all of that crap."

"Yeah, yeah. Of course." RJ relaxes infintessimally and salutes them both, needle like teeth flashing as his smile pulls over them. "Evening, Officer Wilde. Miss Judy." He slips into the crowd a second later, melting into the crush of mammals.

Judy's mind is swirling as they board the train, reviewing their meeting over and over. For once, she's absolutely still. She has so many questions it's driving her crazy, but she has no idea which ones to ask, or if Nick even has the answers. 

After a while, Nick stretches and turns off his phone, glancing at her out of the corner of his vision. "That went pretty well, didn't it?"

Judy nods, fingering the plastic bag in her lab. "Mmhm." She squirms a little, furrows forming in the crease between her eyebrows.

"...Nick?"

"That's my name, last time I checked my passport."

She ignores his smart aleck response. He doesn't have a passport, at least one that's federally valid and legit. "That thing...with the kids...?"

Nick sighs heavily and scratches the back of his head with a rough  _scritch scritch_ sound. "Figured you'd ask about that sooner or later." He shifts in his seat and stares out the window. "RJ doesn't really like anybody knowing about them. It's not just a casual arrangement. He's raising those kids because no one else will. Hell, if I'd been younger when we met, I might've been right along with them." He shudders. "I don't even want to think about where they'd be without him. Hammy was...two, I think, the last time I saw them."

"Why doesn't he want people to know about it?" Judy wonders. "That's amazing what he's doing for them."

Nick's lips twist. "When you're on the streets... hustling, specifically, you don't really want people knowing that there's something you care about more than yourself. It makes you vulnerable and it's dangerous for them. He moves them around a lot."

"But we're good guys." Judy points out. "That can't be a stable situation. He didn't even want to talk about it with you, and you already know."

"It's because- and you're not gonna like this, but just hear me out- it's because you were there, and you're a cop. Hear me _out_ , Carrots," he huffs, holding up a paw when she starts to jump to her own defence. "I am too, but RJ _knows_ me. He knows I wouldn't rat on him, and he agreed to meet you because you're with me and you haven't cracked down on Finn like you probably should have. But those kids come before anything else with RJ, and he's had some problems with cops trying to take them away from him in the past."

Judy's protests wither and die in her throat, and her mouth forms a little 'o' shape. "...Oh," she squeaks.  _How awful._

"Mmhm. I know it might not seem like it, but the best place for them is with him. He loves them." Nick explains simply, rubbing a thumb over her knuckles.  _Like I love you._ The sentiment is unvoiced, but she hears it loud and clear, leaning heavily into his side and snuggling his warmth.

His voice vibrates against her cheek as he keeps talking. "The only reason he was willing to talk about it at all is probably because you shook his hand."

Judy puckers her lips, confused again. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Think, Carrots. What does everybody say about raccoons?"

Foxes weren't the only mammals to be imposed with unfair stigmas and stereotypes. Most famous was probably the 'screwing like bunnies' thing, but there were others. Raccoons...Judy wracked her brain for things she usually tuned out, remembering hearing a long time ago someone saying that raccoons were trash dwellers, unhygenic, hoarders; lazy, gluttonous scavengers only suited to jobs like garbage men and sewage workers. One ditzy little girl in her class had told everyone that touching a raccoon could give you a deadly disease and cause your fur to fall out. It makes Judy angry just thinking about it.

"I get it." she says quietly, breathing hard through her nose. "God. Poor RJ."

Nick shrugs. "He's alright. Those kids adore him, and he gets by like I do."

Judy closes her eyes and curls her knees up against her chest, ears drooping. "Did, Nick."

"Right. Did."

The train rumbles on. Before they get off, Nick gets a text from RJ with his temporary address, saying that the kids would love to meet them and to bring tons of sour Jellyfish Jammies if they wanted to survive, because those were Hammy's favourite.


End file.
